Snowstorm To Disrupt Thanksgiving Traffic

UPDATE: Minnesota Weather: 6 Inches Of Snow Possible, Storm Watch Issued

MINNEAPOLIS-SAINT PAUL METRO, MN — Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and planning the logistics of your holiday travel can be a stressful affair. The same question seems to emerge every year: When is the best time to hit the road in the Twin Cities metro area?

This year will be especially tricky. According to the National Weather Service, the weekdays heading into Thanksgiving will feature significant chances for snow.

Here’s the National Weather Service-Twin Cities forecast for the days leading up to Thanksgiving:

Monday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 41. West wind around 5 mph.

Monday Night: A slight chance of rain before 8 p.m., then a slight chance of rain and snow between 8 p.m. and midnight, then a slight chance of snow after midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 31. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 20 percent.

Tuesday: A chance of rain and snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 37. Calm wind becoming northeast around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 40 percent.

Tuesday Night: A chance of rain and snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 27. North wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 40 percent.

Wednesday: A 40 percent chance of snow. Partly sunny, with a high near 33. West northwest wind around 10 mph.

According to Accuweather, Thanksgiving Day in the Minneapolis area will feature a high of 32, and a low of 25, with possible ice.

Minnesota travel during Thanksgiving week

Google Maps has identified the best and worst times to leave for your Thanksgiving road trip, helping you focus on enjoying family fun and chowing-the-turkey time.

Here are the times you need to know for turkey day related travel in the Minneapolis area:

• Best Time To Leave Before Thanksgiving: Wednesday before 12 p.m.
• Ideally Wednesday at 2 a.m.
• Worst Time To Leave Before Thanksgiving: Wednesday afternoon
• Specifically Wednesday at 4 p.m.
• Best Time To Leave After Thanksgiving: Friday morning
• Ideally Friday at 3 a.m.
• Worst Time To Leave After Thanksgiving: Friday afternoon
• Specifically Friday at 3 p.m.

Traffic on Black Friday in Minneapolis will spike at 3 p.m.

Google Maps also used aggregated and anonymized popular time data during the Thanksgiving week to identify when crowds tend to be the largest at popular holiday venues.

Bakeries, grocery stores and liquor stores all hit peak crowd levels between noon and midnight on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Movie theaters and shopping centers, though, have the most activity between noon and midnight on Black Friday.

To determine the best and worst times to drive on Thanksgiving, Google Maps analyzed data from the 2018 “Thanksgiving Holiday Period,” which included the Wednesday before Thanksgiving until the end of Sunday after the holiday.

The web mapping service found the volume of cars on the road at a given time during this period, and received the traffic information anonymously from Android users in 25 cities throughout the United States.

And from all of us here at Patch, have a happy Thanksgiving!

Also read:

• Black Friday 2019 Sales, When Stores Open In Minneapolis-St. Paul
• Edina's Southdale Center Announces Slew Of New Holiday Retailers
• Eagan Shopping Center To Remain Open On Thanksgiving
• Mall Of America Announces 2019 Black Friday Schedule
• Cub, Lunds, Target Thanksgiving Grocery Store Hours In Minnesota